FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT JAITAPUR - PAGE 2

NEW DELHI: Unfazed by growing opposition to Jaitapur nuclear power plant , Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today refused to review the conditional environmental clearance given to it and asked "interest groups" not to use environment as a shield to fire at governments. "As far as environment clearance is concerned, we have done all that is required and all different interest groups should not use environment as a shield behind which they start firing their guns at government," Ramesh told reporters.

MUMBAI: Spurning Maharashtra Government's move to increase compensation to villagers affected by the 9900 MW nuclear power project in coastal Maharashtra, a local body representing some villages near the site in Ratnagiri district, has vowed to continue their agitation to scrap the project. The combative stand taken by the Madban, Jaitapur, Mithgavane Panchkroshi Samiti is likely to deepen further the wedge created by the state government's move. "The project affected people want the project scrapped and shifted from Jaitapur.

MUMBAI: Keen to set up 9,900 MW nuclear power plant at Jaitapur, which is facing opposition from various quarters, the Maharashtra Government today said the proposed project site in Konkan region is the "safest" in the world. "A day will come when coal (reserves) will end. Therefore, alternate sources of energy will have to be identified," Minister of State for Power Rajendra Mulak said in the Legislative Council. He was replying to discussion on a Bill to amend Mumbai Power Rates Act , which was passed in the Upper House.

MUMBAI: One person was killed in police firing as protests against the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power plant in coastal Ratnagiri district today turned violent with agitators setting ablaze a police station. The man, identified as Tavrez Sejkar, was killed in police firing at Sakhrinate village when around 600-700 locals protesting against the proposed 9,900 MW project, attacked the local police station, Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil told the state Assembly. He said the agitators stormed the police station when most officials were on duty at the project site in Jaitapur since the locals were to stage a demonstration there.

KOLKATA: In the face of opposition to the proposed 6,000 MW Jaitapur nuclear power in Maharashtra, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India today said it will soon announce a new rehabiliation package for land losers at the site. "We have improved the rehabilation package 10 times the existing one. This would be announced anyday," NPCIL chairman and managing director S K Jain said here today on the sidelines of an event. Despite possessing the land title for the project, the NPCIL is unable to get hold of the land.

JAITAPUR: In Madban, a small village close to the coastal town of Jaitapur in Maharashtra, nobody had heard of BBC or CNN till a few weeks ago. But after the nuclear meltdown in Japan's Fukushima, villagers spent hours together, glued to TV sets, watching visuals of nuclear plants spewing out plumes of white smoke. Pravin Gavankar, a 51-yearold farmer from Madban village stands amid his 145 acres rice cultivation, wondering if this vast stretch of land will face something similar to the devastation at Fukushima.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar today accused Shiv Sena of "misleading" people from the coastal Konkan region on the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power project . "Investment to the tune of Rs one lakh crore is being made in the Jaitapur nuclear power project. However, the party is misleading people to oppose the project," Pawar said without naming Shiv Sena, which is reportedly opposing the project. Pawar, who also holds Finance portfolio, was replying during the debate in Legislative Council on the Budget (2013-14)

NEW DELHI: Even as the nuclear crisis in Japan kicks up a debate on the vulnerability of nuclear power plants in India, the Maharashtra government has said it would go ahead with the Jaitapur project, with additional safety measures if necessary. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, also handling the energy portfolio, told state legislative council in Mumbai on Friday that all additional security measures would be incorporated in the Jaitapur plant design after studying the technical and design flaws behind the failure of nuclear reactors at the tsunami-hit Fukushima-Daiichi plant in Japan.

NEW DELHI: In a bid to allay concerns over the impact of 9,900-MW nuclear power park at Jaitapur, Nuclear Power Corporation of India has set up a committee to undertake comprehensive studies on marine ecology and bio-diversity in the 10 kilometre area around the site. This was one of the conditions of the environmental clearance given to the project in November last year. The move to set up this committee took on a level of urgency after environment minister Jairam Ramesh's interaction at TISS last week.

NEW DELHI: As Opposition and environmental groups ratchet up pressure on the government for a relook at the proposed 9,900-megawatt nuclear power plant at Jaitapur, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Prthiviraj Chavan have stepped in to defend the project to be set up with French collaboration. While Chavan told reporters in Mumbai that he would convene a meeting of local legislators and NGOs to discuss the issue, Jairam Ramesh asserted that environmental clearance was given after stipulating 35 conditions and safeguards.